While looking down at the Gorez, who had been dyed black, I smiled, lifting the corners of my mouth.
The large man, who was sitting and trembling, was ridiculous.
His stern face.
His muscles, overtrained to no end, and his appearance that exuded a sense of being a bad guy.
I had been troubled by such men in my previous life.
I recalled the loan sharks.
"Please! I'll do anything, just forgive me!"
The subordinates around us were aiming their guns, and the bodies of their comrades were being carried away.
My gaze towards Gorez had become very cold.
That said, there is a reason why I cannot forgive Gorez.
One reason is that he is the type of person I disliked in my previous life, but this guy is also mistaken.
"Are you mistaken about something? You say you'll do anything, or that you'll give me some incredible treasureâyour treasure is already mine. And all you can do is obediently become my achievement and be handed over to the empire for the reward money."
Gorez's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait! If you let me live, I can definitely be of use. Ah, I lost to you, but you saw my strength, right? The soldiers on your side couldn't even move. I'll quietly serve under you. So, please let me go! I have hidden treasures worth more than the reward money. So, please! I'll hand over treasures that aren't even here!"
It's probably just talk.
It might be true, but it's not a reason not to turn him in.
"What? You're still hiding something. I'll tell them when I hand you over to the empire, so they can thoroughly investigate. You'll be in for some enjoyable torture."
"F-fuck you, you little shit!"
Perhaps thinking that it was useless to say anything, Gorez, who only has one leg, came at me.
He approached, emitting black smoke from his body.
I pointed the tip of my sword at himâ
"Stop making a fuss."
âI carved him up to the point where he wouldn't die, and took his last leg as well.
He fell to the floor, sliding, and didn't understand what had happened. After a while, it seemed he grasped the situation and started begging for his life.
"Please help me. I beg you. Help!"
I was pleased to see the new sword I had acquired, which was even more useful than I had imagined.
Then, one of my subordinates asked me.
"Lord Liam, are you really going to capture him alive?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"No, it's just that I lost many subordinates to him."
I see, so he can't forgive him.
"If I kill him, the reward money will decrease, right? I think it's better to capture him alive."
I remember hearing that.
But it seems Gorez is different.
"No, for violent criminals, it doesn't matter if they're alive or dead. As long as there's a record of killing Gorez or his head, the full reward will be paid."
Hearing that, I felt embarrassed.
"Oh, is that so?"
When I looked at Gorez, he was still crying.
I recalled my memories from my previous lifeâWho said that loan sharks have a sense of humanity? They sucked the marrow out of my bones.
They had no trace of kindness.
They even tried to get me to take out life insurance.
No matter how much I cried or begged, it was no use.
I was despairing about my life.
Why did I have to go through this?
How is it now?
Now, I am in the position to take.
The one being taken is the violent criminal, Gorezâhow great is that!
"Please help me. I'll tell you everything. So, please helpâ"
"Stop making a fuss, it's annoying."
I cut off his head to silence him, and I was surprised to see his body.
His black skin was turning back to a normal skin color.
It was a wheat color, as if he had a tan.
"Oh, it's back. So, he wasn't a cyborg?"
Looking at his body, there was no sign of any mechanical enhancements.
So, that black skin andâthis world is full of mysteries.
I grabbed Gorez's head.
"Will this be evidence?"
"Yes!"
When my subordinates hurriedly answered, they brought tools to collect the body.
Reports came in one after another, and it seemed that almost the entire ship had been taken over.
The content my subordinate confirmed with me wasâ
"Lord Liam, we found people other than the piratesâcaptives."
â
Following one of the pirates, we arrived near Gorez's room.
I thought the pirate ship was built quite solidly, but it turned out they had stolen and modified a warship from some country.
These guys really went overboard.
I kicked the pirate who was guiding me from behind.
"Hurry up!"
"Yes, sir!"
The man, who was called the caretaker by other pirates, was close to Gorez.
He was short, with a protruding belly and thin limbs.
He was a creepy man.
He seemed to have a special job and possessed specialized knowledge.
When we were led to near Gorez's room and the door opened, my subordinates went in first.
The caretaker said something.
"Ah, ah, don't touch the equipment. It's my important business tool."
"Business tool?"
Equipment for keeping animals, perhaps?
I asked him a question that was on my mind.
"Hey, you."
"Yes?"
"Do you keep dogs on this ship?"
The man smiled in a way that made me uncomfortable and tried to impress me.
"You, the noble, like them too. I can modify any dog. Do you want them to be obedient? Or really like dogs?"
What is he talking about?
Thinking he might be crazy, several of my subordinates came rushing out of the room.
They were taking off their helmets and vomiting.
"You guys, what are you showing in front of Lord Liam!"
The trained soldiers had pale faces, and I was curious about what was going on.
One of the soldiers came out of the room and said to me.
"I think it's better if Lord Liam doesn't go in."
His voice lacked strength.
"What? Tell me what's going on."
The creepy caretaker, who was hesitating, explained.
"This is also my laboratory. Usually, I assist the captainâGorezâin his hobbies. I'm sure the noble will enjoy it."
The subordinates who had taken off their helmets glared at the caretaker.
"You bastard!"
The caretaker smiled.
"Explain."
Following my order, the caretaker happily explained his work.
So, Iâfeeling disgusted, shot the caretaker in the head with a pistol.
Yeah, pirates are just evil.
I can't understand them any more than that.
â
In the dark room, there were creepy tools hanging on the walls.
A surgical table was placed, and no one in the room wanted to be taken there.
This room was called the breeding room by the pirates.
It was a room of extreme bad taste, combining the caretaker's experiments and Gorez's hobbies that were not understood by the general public.
The people in this roomâwere once beautiful men and women.
Gorez's hobby was to enjoy the sight of beautiful men and women becoming ugly.
He also enjoyed torture as a hobby.
The caretaker had a hobby of modifying human bodies, and with the two of them together, the room was filled with people who were once beautiful but were now in a miserable state.
Among them, there was a woman who had been treated particularly cruelly.
Her name was [Christiana Reta Rosebrier]âshe was once a beautiful female knight.
She was born into the royal family of a small country in the interstellar nation, known as a princess knight.
She surrendered to Gorez after her hometown was taken as a hostage and was now Gorez's favoriteâtoy.
The people brought to this room were all in special positions.
They were people who were tormented by the twisted hobbies of Gorez and his men.
ChristianaâTia, had become a mere lump of flesh, with no trace of her former self.
She noticed the ship's unusual state and understood everything when an unfamiliar group entered the room.
The soldiers who entered the room were vomiting at the sight before them.
Some were trembling.
Tia spoke to one of the soldiers.
"Is Gorez alright?"
Her once beautiful voice had become very creepy.
The soldier, trembling, pointed his gun at her in surprise.
"Ah!"
"Don't be surprised. I have become this way, but I am not your enemy. I will ask again. What happened to Gorez?"
Thinking the soldier's reaction was understandable, the sound of gunfire was heard from the other side of the open door.
The people in the room were relieved.
Ah, so weâcan finally die, they thought.
A knight entered the room.
He was small and looked very young.
It was questionable whether he was even an adult, and he held a single sword.
From the soldiers' reactions, Tia deduced that this young man was in a higher position and spoke to him.
"Did you capture Gorez?"
The young man was slightly surprised but quickly answered.
"I killed him."
"Is that so."
In the room, the people groaned.
There were cries of joy, gratitude, and tears of happinessâwhile the soldiers were trembling, the young man seemed to be looking at Tia.
One of the soldiers searching the room brought a terminal and handed it to the young man.
Tia was truly grateful.
The young man looked like a messenger of the god she had been praying to.
"Finally, it's over. I don't know who you are, but if you have any mercyâplease, save us."
Tia's idea of being saved meant being killed by the young men.
She could no longer die in her current state.
Finally, everything would be over, she thought.
"Save you?"
"Yes. I think you will understand by looking at our appearance. We can no longer live as humans. So, by your handsâ"
She thought it was impossible to return to her original form, and living had no meaning.
However, the young man told them he would not kill them.
"Alright, I'll save you. You owe me a favor. Someone, call a doctor and have them transported."
Tia thought the young man had misunderstood the meaning of saving them.
"Waitâ"
The young man left the room with the soldiers.
She begged the remaining soldiers.
"Please! Kill me! Kill me!"
The soldiers turned away.
"Lord Liam's order. We can't disobey. I'm sorry."
In the room, Tia and the others were suddenly overwhelmed by despair.
â
After leaving the room of bad taste, I was looking at the original appearances of the people who had changed, on a tablet.
It was written in detail what was funny, what experiments were done, and what modifications were made.
There were even breeding diaries that observed the process of change.
It seemed they collected only beautiful men and women and enjoyed watching them become ugly.
"They have bad tastes."
It was a hobby I couldn't understand.
A subordinate asked me.
"Lord Liam, are you really going to help them?"
It seemed he had medical knowledge and told me that the treatment options for the changed people were limited.
"From their appearance, the only treatment method is to regenerate their entire bodies."
"Can they be cured?"
"For that, an elixir is needed. It would be diluted, but you know how valuable it is."
In a fantasy world, an elixir is like a universal medicine.
Of course, it exists in this world, but even in a large empire, it is rare to find one.
If it were to be sold on the market, it would fetch an astronomical price.
"Buy it. I wanted one too, so I want two or three."
The treasures I took from Gorez would likely fetch a considerable amount of money.
Moreover, Gorez might have hidden some.
I, Liam, am the type who uses elixirs.
"No, thatâother specialized doctors are needed. The facilities are not cheap, and psychological care is also necessary. It will take years to return to their original formsâand the treatment costs will be astronomical."
This time, it seems we will make a huge profit, so it's not a problem.
"I will help them because they asked for it."
"The meaning of 'save us'â"
"I know."
The subordinate fell silent.
They can no longer hope for a normal life.
I know that tooâbut looking at the history written on the terminal, it seemed unjust.
It felt like I was seeing the suffering of people who had endured more than I did in my previous life, and I felt a little sympathy.
Most of the people who were captured had their hometowns destroyed by Gorez.
Most of them had no place to return to.
"I feel good now. Occasionally doing good deeds isn't bad, don't you think?"
The subordinates didn't know how to respond.
â
When we returned to the territory, we were warmly welcomed.
The people were overjoyed, and Bryan, who welcomed me at the mansion, was in tears.
"Lord Liamâthis Bryan believed you would return safely!"
"O-oh, really?"
Tenchou whispered in my ear.
"It's true that he was worried, but he didn't think you would win."
"Is that so?"
âIt's nice to have someone cry for you out of worry.
Bryan, wiping his tears, reported, but I couldn't understand what he was saying, so I decided to hear the report from Tenchou.
Thenâ
"Summon to the capital planet?"
"Yes. There is talk of awarding a medal to you, Lord Liam, for defeating the Gorez pirate group. It's almost decided, and the official announcement will be made soon."
The guide mentioned it.
It will be recognized as my military achievement.
Everything is taken care of.
Just for destroying a pirate group of that level, I will receive an astronomical amount of treasure and honor.
Hunting pirates is profitable.
"Also, we received messages from the Humphrey Trading Company and the Seventh Weapon Factory. Lord Thomas wants to discuss the purchase of the spoils of war."
"Why is the weapon factory contacting me?"
I didn't understand why the factory with the beautiful but unfortunate Nias would contact me.
Tenchou explained.
"Many of the weapons the pirates had were also used by other countries. They want to buy them for research."
"Should I think they are enthusiastic about research?"
"Also, they want to secure the rare metals as materials."
The precious metals the Gorez pirate group possessed were in considerable quantities.
âThere wasn't much gold, so I wasn't very happy about that.
"Should I talk to Thomas first?"
"I will arrange it immediately."
It's really convenient to have capable subordinates.